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Magnificent stories about Caribbean immigrants navigating the emotional terrain of girlhood, displacement, longing, and identity across continents.
Layaway Child is a luminous debut short story collection by award-winning writer Chanel Sutherland that explores the emotional landscapes of Caribbean families fractured by migration, especially the harrowing yet resilient journeys of Black girls and women. In lyrical, linked stories, Sutherland traces the lives of mothers working abroad as housekeepers and nannies, and the children they left behind.
From lush island childhoods marked by absence and community, to the cold, alienating spaces of Canadian cities, Layaway Child captures the complexity of growing up between worlds. A mother, newly arrived in Montreal, is kept from speaking to her daughters by her own mother’s misguided attempt to help her let go of home. A schoolgirl becomes a spectacle under the gaze of white classmates. A young girl’s curiosity about the cosmos collides with the confusion of puberty. Sutherland brings deep compassion and sharp insight to each moment, revealing both the beauty of island life and the harshness of immigration’s toll.
“Astonishing and utterly gorgeous stories about the loss of home in one country and the near impossibility of finding it in another.” —Lawrence Hill
“Elegantly written, filled with bright characters, and richly evocative, this is a remarkable debut.” — Booklist
“Powerful and moving, Layaway Child is a sensitive evocation of lives shaped by immigration, separation, and the tenacious love of mothers for their children.” — Shelf Awareness
“Chanel Sutherland’s wide-ranging short fiction, portraying familial love, coming-of-age angst, dislocation, exile, betrayal, and much more, kept me spellbound … This is a stellar collection.” —H. Nigel Thomas, author of A Different Hurricane
“These stories tunnel straight to your core, instinctively asking: What is home? And somehow, we find it here, in these pages, never dreaming of elsewhere.” —Chelene Knight, author of Junie
“Layaway Child is a wonder … A welcome addition to the Canadian Caribbean canon.” —Antonio Michael, author of Black Cherokee
"This honest and evocative collection of stories highlights the sweetness of Black girlhood and the challenges and nuances of growing up, colorism, immigration and more. Sutherland’s tenderness doesn’t overlook the real experiences of girls but rather shines a light on their humanity and ubiquity." —Ms Magazine
“Perfectly crafted and occasionally heartbreaking.” —Chatelaine Magazine
“Each story is remarkable and distinctive on its own while also existing in relation with the others in this breathtakingly beautiful ecosystem.” —Iryn Tushabe, author of Everything Is Fine Here
“Moving, surprising, and carefully observed, Layaway Child establishes Chanel Sutherland as an important contemporary voice.” —Jen Currin, author of Disembark
“Chanel Sutherland sticks her landing with this brilliant debut.” —Deepa Rajagopalan, author of Peacocks of Instagram